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Chapter Text

“Thanks again for meeting this early man, I got a call from Wyndon yesterday that league officials are coming to inspect some new dynamax installments in the gym today.” Gym Leader Raihan explains, taking a bite of his sandwich.

Leon tilts back in his chair, folding his arms. “No problem at all.”

They were sitting up on an outdoor balcony at the Cinapplin Cafe in downtown Hammerlocke. Raihan’s made a deal with the owner to keep the balcony empty when he makes reservations so the dragon leader can at least hear his lunch guests. Unfortunately, even when Raihan’s not in his uniform, he can only manage so much privacy when said guest is his best friend, the champion.

“Leon, Raihan please just one question!” a voice rings out from the people below. Raihan muses the crowd of civilians and reporters made a new record with how fast they gathered this time around. 

“Leon, where have you been this last week?!” “Are you and Raihan strategizing?” “How do you plan to prepare for next season?!” they yell out.

Raihan chuckles, tilting his sunglasses at his friend.

“You know Lee, this ain’t a ceremony, didjya have to go with the cape and getup today?”

Leon snorts.

“You know how Oleana is about keeping up appearances for the league, before I left for home she text me that I had to wear the uniform in public, that was the deal for the time off; if she doesn’t see at least some tabloid about my-” he finger quotes, “- reappearance, she’ll give me an earful.”

“I guess you’re right, that chick’s so wound up you could stick a hunk of coal up her ass and it’d become a diamond by next week.”

Leon just nods and stirs complacently at his soup, making Raihan quirk a brow. It doesn’t take much to make the purple-haired man laugh, and he usually cackles at his best friend’s jokes, but right now he just looks distracted.

“Oi, mate, earth to Lee; everything aight?”

Leon looks at Raihan like the dragon trainer just woke him up.

“O-oh yea, sorry I’m good, just a bit tired from the flight.” 

Raihan purses his lips, unconvinced.

“Hmmm… Well you mentioned over the phone that you were gonna go training, how’d that go?”

To his confusion, Leon grimaces at his soup as if a hairball were in it. He glances at Raihan, then down to the crowd, and back at the dragon tamer.

The tamer gives an understanding “Ahhhhhhh” and smirks.

“Aight mate, how ‘bout we go have a beer.”

===

After a half-hour of fighting through fans, Leon and Raihan are alone in the V.I.P box at Hammerlocke Stadium. Raihan takes a sip of his beer and sets it down on the coffee table with a clink, leaning forward onto his knees.

“K Lee, I haven’t seen you so bummed out by a crowd in years, what’s goin on?”

Leon sighs and leans forward, shaking his head with a grin.

“Ugh, Rai you’re gonna give me a hard time for weeks after this one.” 

“Ahhhh, I mean you’re probably right; spill anyways and I’ll decide, what happened?”

The champion laughs.

“Okay, so I was taking a nap on a cliff in the Giant’s Seat right?...”

===

Raihan gawks at him with his sunglasses pulled down.

“Are you shittin me?”

“Nope.”

Raihan leans back into his chair, looking like he just saw a legendary pokemon.

“Hang on, hang on, lemme get this straight. You save this random chick from death-”

“Yep”

“You find out she drew a picture of you while you were sleeping -”

“Yea…”

“She apologizes after you bring the chick her backpack, and you figure out she's chill-”

“Yes.”

“You camp together, alone, for two nights! AND she sees you with yer shirt off -”

“Raihan did you hear me just tell you the story or not, what’s your point?!” he demands through sipping his beer.

“Ya didn’t bang her!” He yells, throwing up his hands dramatically. Leon chokes on his drink, pounding at his chest as he coughs.

“Jeezez man, could you be any more blunt!” 

Raihan laughs.

“Sorry sorry, but seriously, “ his blue eyes narrow, “ Was she hot?”

“I’m done with this conversation.”

“Oh c’mooooon, yer obviously hung up on this girl, tell your poor old bestie the truth!”

Leon scowls, leaning back into the chair and draping his arms over the sides. He looks down to the pitch where the gym trainer Aria was working with her Abomasnow.

“I’m not hung up on her, and if you MUST know; yes, she was pretty cute…”

The dragon leader quirks a brow, making Leon roll his eyes.

“Okay okay fine you idiot, I’ll admit it she was hot; brown hair, deep brown eyes, and fit too, like not too much though - she rock climbs.”

Leering, Raihan rubs at his chin.

“Rock climber, interesting; probably got great stamina, you know what they say about great stamina-"

“Arceus Rai, will you cut it out with that shit! We met three days ago for one thing and you know I’d never take advantage of someone like that, I’m… old fashioned-”

The dragon tamer interjects, rubbing at his forehead.

“And that’s what I’m worried about mate, at this rate yain’t gonna get laid till your next life. And if the woman agrees it’s called a one-night-stand, look it up old man.” 

“Very funny, why’re you so concerned about it anyways?”

Raihan frowns and takes another swig of beer.

“Because it’s a problem Leon, you’ve never even dated before! It’s been left up to me to introduce you to the soft, warm, confusing world of women.”

Leon shoots him a doubtful look.

“Sorry for being kind of busy since I was ten years old. And what makes you an expert if you've only had one girl?”

Raihan sniggers.

“Yea I had one girl friend and she was battshit crazy, but you know I’ve had more than one girl, mate. Trust me it’s simpler that way.”

“You know that’s-”

“Yea yea yea, not your ‘style’, I know.”

Raihan hums, picking at the label on his bottle.

“About this girl tho, I’m curious about one thing. I wanna trust your judgement, but she finds you and draws you while you’re sleeping - that sounds like something a fangirl on crack would do, doesn’t that even bother you at all?” 

Leon hums and scratches his beard.

“Yeeeaa.. I mean it was freakin weird when I first found it; I was worried she’d have that crazed-look in her eye and ask me to marry her or something when I brought her bag back. But she didn’t; when I brought it up she was actually really apologetic about invading my privacy - she even offered to sign a restraining order.-” he laughs “- We talked for a bit and she was actually really sincere Rai; it felt like I was back with you and Sonia during our time in the gym challenge, it was relaxing and fun and… just great.”

Raihan nods intently.

“So… when are you gonna see her again?”

“What?”

“You know, see her again? You’ve never even talked about a woman before besides Sonia, and we both know that labcoat doesn’t count in this topic. If you’re gonna spend a weekend with a girl and claim she’s so sincere, I think I should have a right to at least get to meet her.”

Leon laughs nervously, making Raihan tilt his head.

“Lee. You are gonna see her again, right? You wouldn’t talk her up so much if you didn’t plan on it right ?”

“Heh, well… about that…”

The dragon tamer narrows his gaze. Realization hits him like a rock to the head.

“You didn’t ask for her number, did you?!”

Closing his eyes, Leon puts his hands together like a prayer and lets out an exasperated sigh.

“No, no I didn’t. When I saw your message I panicked and rushed out of there because I didn’t want to be late-”

“Hey woah woah there, do not pin this on me champ, if anything you cockblocked yourself.” Raihan interjects, pointing his beer towards his friend.

“Can you phrase that any other way? And I’m not blaming you! Like we both said I don’t have much, if any, experience when it comes to… well... even asking a girl for her number.”

Dating was never a priority on the docket for the champion; that doesn’t mean he’s never found anyone attractive before though. When he was younger he would reciprocate when girls approached, but every time he tried to get closer to someone, it became apparent quickly that each one just wanted to get with Leon, the Monarch of the Galar Region and Champion of the World.

There was never any interest in Leon, the country boy from Potswick. That - along with his atrocious schedule - turned him off from dating for most his life.

The dumbfounded dragon tamer across from him just rubs a hand down his face.

“Welp, do you think you’ll try and look this chick up or just let it go? You know her name right, maybe she has a Pokegram account…” he trails off, pinching his chin. 

“Yea, her name’s Nara; and there’s something else that helps…” he muses.

“Well, what is it? spit it out champ.”

Leon rubs at the back of his neck.

“She’s Kabu’s niece, as in Motostoke’s Gym Leader Kabu, and she lives with him.”

Raihan gapes.

“Kabu, the fiery old coot Kabu... Has a niece who lives with him... A hot niece. No way I don’t believe it, she was fuckin with you mate.”

Leon shakes his head.

“At first I thought the same thing; apparently she’s lived with him her whole life but Kabu’s never mentioned her - ever! But Rai, she said she trains under him as a gym trainer and I got to watch her battle this weekend. After seeing her skills I have no doubts; it was just like Kabu’s style.”

Raihan leans back into the chair and folds his hands behind his head.

“I mean, fuck, that makes things easier I guess. I’ll take your word for it but I think I’d need some proof on that one, I mean it’s Kabu for Arceus-sake. What are you gonna do about it? Are you gonna go find her?”

Leon hums thoughtfully.

“Honestly… I don’t know yet. I’m trying to stay realistic here; like I said I’ve known her for three days, and things will only pick up on my schedule the closer the gym challenge gets.”

His best friend sighs.

“Well Lee, I’m not gonna tell ya what decision to make ‘ere; go with your gut on what you think is right I just want ya to be happy mate.” he holds out his beer.

Leon chuckles and toasts with his friend.

“Thanks Rai, that means a lot. That’s enough about me though, tell me how Flygon’s been doing, has that leg thing gotten better?”
===

The moment Nara closes the door to her and Kabu’s flat, she could just feel his annoyance permeating the air. Maybe it was how the T.V. was turned up a tad louder than usual. Maybe it was how Arcanine furrowed her brow at the trainer from the couch as she walked closer from the hall. Or maybe it was how she turned into the kitchen to meet Kabu’s stern gaze from where he stood behind the granite island. Sensing his irritation, Cubone burrows into the crook of her arm with a scared squeak.

“Nara, welcome home, how was your training?” her uncle asks curtly, making her flinch.

“Ahhhh… It was great, uncle; Coalossal and Skarmory got a lot of good work in I’m proud of them.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. After Leon left so abruptly that morning, Nara had spent the rest of it training with her two partners. She had already decided beforehand that she wouldn’t mention her encounter with the champion to Kabu; she hated lying to him but it wasn’t worth stressing over how he would react to a one-time encounter with the man.

“I see, good; that means there must have been nothing wrong with your rotom phone.”

Her stomach does a flip.

“ Shit, I forgot to call him at night!”

“I-I’m so so sorry uncle-”

“You made me extremely worried Nara, and what happened to your backpack.” he interjects, pointing at the torn spots.

“U-uhm, well I was battling a noivern, and… uh... it flew past Skarmory at me. To distract it, I threw my bag and the dragon tried to fly off with it. The tears are from where it's talons sunk in, but it dropped it. Skarmory took care of the noivern after that.”

Inwardly she sighs in relief since Kabu seems to accept her story. It feels like a knife is twisting in her gut at her lie, but she knows it’s saving her an even bigger headache later. The trainer doesn’t even want to think about how pissed Kabu would be if he found out she had almost fallen off a cliff… twice… and camped alone with a man she barely knew… twice…

Kabu looks like he’s about to say something, but his rotom buzzes. With a huff, he pulls it out and scrolls at a message. 

“They need me at the gym for a couple hours Nara so I’m only going to ask you this-” He walks up to her and glowers down into her eyes with his hands folded behind his back, “do we need to continue this conversation later, or can we move on with an understanding of what you did wrong and need to change if there’s a next time?”

Nara nods her head quickly, Cubone joining in.

Kabu leans back and grabs at his work bag containing his pokeballs among other gym supplies, walking towards the door.

“Good, regardless of your forgetfulness, I’m glad you had a wonderful time with your partners; being able to train with them is something you should greatly enjoy in your youth,” he turns halfway out the doorway, “I most likely won’t be back till late so there’s leftovers in the fridge, Arcanine has a sore paw so she’s staying here today please feed her dinner.”

“I will uncle, have a good evening, tell Chaka I say hi please.”

Kabu nods and heads out. After the soft click, the tension melts from the trainer’s shoulders, and she looks down where Cubone is playing grabby hands at a banana on the counter.

“Now that that’s out of the way let's unpack, I’ve got a phone call to make.”

===

“Rotom, could you ring up Aurora please?” She asks, cuddling into her bed with a tub of ice cream. 

“Bzzt. Will do mahm! Bzzt.”

It only took one ring for an excited shrill scream to resound on the other end, making Nara, Cubone, and her rotom all jump.

“Aiiiyyyeeeee Naraaaaa, what the ef, u, cee, kay gurly I’ve been calling all weekend I thought you died on your trip or something!”

“Easy on the eardrums please! But good to see you too Ro, and no I didn’t die... I’m sorry for not answering, I was a bit… distracted.”
Aurora purses her lips.

“Distracted. You were alone in the wilderness for almost three days and you were distracted.” 

Nara twists the hair on her shoulders between her fingertips.

“Weeellll, you see… I wasn’t exactly alone.”

Her silver-haired friend hums curiously.

“What do you mean by that? Didja catch a new friend for lil Cuby? Did you run into someone from school?” She starts bouncing in her chair, “Oh oh ooohhh,  Did you meet a guuuuyyyy or something?” she jests.

Nara smirks.

“Actually Ro yes, it was a guy.”

Her friend leans close to the camera and lets out a long “Oooooooooohhhhh”, and grabs at a bowl of chips from off-screen.

“Ok Nar, I wanna hear every detail, spill.” she demands, munching on the potato chips.

Nara chuckles and pinches the bridge of her nose.

“Trust me, you’re not gonna believe this…”

===

Aurora’s screeching was so loud that Arcanine poked her head through Nara’s door just to make sure she wasn’t getting murdered by something. The trainer shrugs apologetically, getting up off the bed.

“Sorry Arc, don’t worry I’m fine, you know how Aurora can be,” she apologizes. Arcanine grunts and hobbles back down the stairs while Nara closes the door. She drops her rotom when Ro’s voice sounds through the mic again.

“YOU went CAMPING with the CHAMPION , ARE you fucking KIDDING ME?! AND he SAVED YOU?” 

“Yes Ro, I wouldn’t lie about that, but could we dial it down a notch Cubone’s trying to watch the news.” Cubone snorts from the edge of the bed where he was staring at a t.v. mounted on the wall scrolling through the evening news.

Aurora takes in an exaggerated breath to calm down.

“Sorry, sorry, I-I like literally don’t know where to even begin girl. First off, ballsy move watching him sleep, but I can respect that. Second off, even ballsier to draw him in his sleep. Third off, he forgave you after he found out? And fourth off, this is the guy-” she screen-shares an attractive photo of Leon from a press conference taken a couple weeks ago “-like we’re on the same page here, this was for sure him?”

Nara rolls her eyes.

“Yes Ro, I don’t think too many men in Galar have a cape and a Charizard.”

“Wow. I wonder what Nessa’ll say to him, I bet it’d be funny-”

Choking on her ice cream, Nara grabs at the rotom and stares at her friend incredulously.

“Wait, what, your sister knows him? How does she know him?!”

“Uh, earth to Nara, did you forget she’s literally a gym leader? It’s like, in her job description sometimes to interact with him. I think it’s more of a friend-of-a-friend  thing though, her friend Sonia is the one who knows him well, I remember in high school I used to beg them to introduce me-”

Nara interrupts her rambling, clasping her hands together begging.

“Ro, if Nessa knows him you cannot tell her about this weekend, please!”

“What? Why not, what if she offers to help you see him again?”

The brown-haired girl’s shoulders slump at that.

“I don’t think he was interested in seeing me again, I mean yes he said he wanted to, but what if he was just being nice? He just up and left this morning, and that’s fine obviously he’s super busy, but he didn’t even ask for my number or anything. If Nessa talks to him about it, i’ll just come off even weirder and it’ll make things worse, the whole situation is already embarrassing. I’d rather just let it go and move on - let’s be realistic here he’ll forget I even existed by next week.”

Aurora gives her a sad look.

“Okay, if that’s how you feel I won’t tell her, I promise. How about we talk about something else? I actually also wanted to ask if you’ve brought up the apartment to uncle Cobwebs yet.”

In a little over a month, Aurora’s department at the Hulbury breeding facility was going to be moved to a new branch in downtown Wyndon. Nara was ecstatic when her friend suggested last week that they get an apartment together; Nessa had already even suggested a couple locations to Aurora. The only problem though was Kabu. Nara’s uncle was the only family she’s ever had, and she loves him so much but she knows he would never approve of her moving out for multiple reasons; financials, his overprotective nature, her apparent immaturity and lack of job…

Nara of course wants to try and convince him, but it was just going to be a difficult conversation.

“Sorry, no, I haven’t, I’ve been really focused on the class contest. Give me a bit more time Ro and I promise I’ll ask.”

“Ok Nar, I don’t have a lot of time though, if things don’t work I’ll have to find a roommate,” she grimaces, clutching her own rotom, “Please to not make me have to find a roommate Krabby will snap at new people and I don’t think anyone else would be able to stand my morning beauty routine!”

Nara snorts.

“Yea, I don’t think too many people wanna help pay your water bill, I pity your poor parents. Don’t worry about Kabu I’ll ask him soon.”

“Ok, good luck, just lemme know how it goes,” she starts clapping, “Ohhhhh I can’t wait to see you next week for the harvest festival it’s going to be so so fun, ugh I wish you could stay past the weekend I tried to get off work but it’s so busy right now packing for the move.” 

“It’s completely fine Ro I understand, I’m just glad I get to see you, it’ll be so great! I can’t wait for those Combee honey-dipped apples, they’re the best!”

The Hulburry Harvest Festival is a two-day fall event that attracts tourists from throughout Galar. It’s famous for its food contests, carnival games, concerts, but what makes it most unique is the phenomenal fireworks show on the first night. It’s so special because water type pokemon in the harbor show off different moves along with the fireworks that make it all breathtaking to watch.

Aurora sneers mischievously.

“Yea, and who knows, maybe we’ll catch a glimpse of your charming saviour.” she purrs.

Nara almost drops the spoon from her mouth.

“Mmmph, uh right, no, this is the real world Ro. Speaking of people to see though, will Nessa be there? I know she’s in charge of a lot of the events but I figured I’d ask anyways.”
“Yep! She said she would catch us for lunch the first day after the opening ceremony!”

“Great! I’ll have to congratulate her on getting so far in the tournament this year when I see her-”

Their conversation continues well into the night.

===

It takes Nara the whole week before she finally works up the courage to ask Kabu. It wasn’t that she forgot or anything, she was just swamped - after her daily work at the gym, she spent every other free moment working on her drawing. She’s thankful Kabu leaves her to her devices, but Friday night was the first night they even had dinner together that week.

Kabu looks up from where he was slurping at his spaghetti.

“I noticed Skarmory was making his turns in the air much sharper recently, that’s good he’s maneuvering against closed-range attacks much better.”

“Thanks, he worked really hard during this summer, it’s paying off.” 

“Mhm” 

Nara starts poking at her spaghetti, making Kabu glance at her curiously.

“Is there something you wish to talk about?”

She hesitates, unsure how to best word it.

“Actually yes uncle, there’s… something important I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Is this about your drawings?”

The trainer’s eyes fly open and she has to catch her fork from falling off the table when she jolts.

“Wha- how did you know about that?”

Kabu chuckles, wiping at his face with a napkin.

“Nara, I might be getting up there in age, but I’m not clueless. When you stopped showing me your work as you got older I assumed you just didn’t like doing it anymore. I was actually quite pleased when Arcanine discovered your sketchbook under your bed when we were collecting sheets for laundry day, you have a wonderful skill you should be proud of.”

“It doesn’t look like he knows about the class…”

Nara blushes, fiddling with her fork.

“Thank you so much uncle, I’m sorry for hiding that from you, but no that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about…”

Kabu folds his arms and leans back in his chair.

“You look nervous, is everything alright? Are you in trouble for something?”

Nara waves her hands and shakes her head.

“No no nothing like that… It’s just. You know how I told you Aurora is moving to Wyndon in a month?” Kabu nods slowly, “Well, she - um… She offered for me to live with her in her apartment, just the two of us.”

She panics as Kabu’s eyes narrow and tries to salvage the question.

“I-I just; after I graduated last summer we talked so much about my future, what I planned to do after college right?” Kabu nods slowly, “I just think that moving out would be the best path for me to take at this point, I can actually use my degree and find a job in Wyndon.”

“And you don’t want to be a gym trainer?” he asks in a sharp tone.

Nara shakes her head.

“That’s not it, maybe I will want to come back down the road, I just want to explore all of my options here, I’m old enough to be on my own uncle, please.”

Kabu stares at her for a moment; he has that look again where his mouth is shifting back and forth like a stone rolling around on his tongue. When he finally speaks her heart sinks.

“No, I don’t think you are ready yet. Wyndon is too far I won’t let you go somewhere that could be dangerous to live on your own.”

“B-but uncle!-”

“No buts! This will not be the gym challenge all over again, I am asking you as your guardian to respect my decision.” He gets up from the table to wash his empty plate.

Nara’s face darkens and she scowls.

“This has nothing to do with that and you know it. Why can’t I do this, I’m almost twenty years old!-”

He whips around.

“Precisely Nara! You are only nineteen; do you have any plans for employment? Any idea the responsibility an apartment will take? What if something happens, there is no family in Wyndon for you to fall back on if you and Aurora cannot handle it on your own.”

Nara slams her palms flat on the table and stands.

“No, I don’t know! I don’t because I haven’t done anything on my own . I want to learn, I can’t stay here forever uncle! I need to go out and experience the world and I can’t do that without your help-”

Kabu drops the plate in the sink, making Arcanine and Cubone flinch in the living room. 

“NARA.” She shrinks back, falling quiet, “Enough of this, I’ve said how I feel and this is final. You are too. Young. I cannot support it.”

Kabu starts walking towards the stairs but stops in shock when Nara grasps his elbow, her eyes turned to the floor. The old man deflates when he can see tears welling in her eyes.

“Uncle… you know I’m mature enough for this… I’m not going to ask why you don’t want me to go-” she looks up at him, “-I’ve been so unsure of what to do with my life since I graduated. I can’t piggyback here forever, I… I need this, please just… think about it? For me?” she asks softly.

Kabu grimaces letting out a deep breath. When he looks at her again, he sees the scared, brown-eyed child waking up in a hospital, a large bandage covering half her face. He sees the little girl who used to cheer for him in the empty stands while he and Centiskorch trained every day. He sees the young teenager he was so proud of for dedicating weeks to nursing her first pokemon back to health. He sees someone he’s treated as his daughter, and would do anything to protect from the unseen dangers of their world. 

Kabu puts a firm hand on her shoulder.

“Alright, give me time and I will think it over. We will talk about it after I arrive in Hulburry to pick you up on Sunday okay?”

Nara beams and tries to hold in her excitement, her eyes glowing with hope.

“Thank you uncle, I promise you won’t regret it!” she grins, her hands balling up into fists.

Kabu waves his hand dismissively as he hides the deep concern on his face, walking up the stairs and out of sight.